KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Kirksville Lady Tigers came out and held the Moberly Lady Spartans to only one point in the first quarter. It was pretty much over from there, as KHS would cruise to a 50-28 NCMC victory.

The Lady Spartans made a small run in the second quarter as Nichole Cook and McKenzie Russell both picked up their second fouls. Moberly was able to keep it an eight point game as the two teams went to half, but the third quarter was a different story. Led by the outside shooting of senior guard Haley Phillips, the Lady Tigers outscored Moberly 20-9 in the third. Kirksville scored 22 points in the entire first half.

“At this point in the game we are happy to get a conference victory any way we can. We made some adjustments from the first game that helped us stay out of foul trouble. Holding them to one point in the first quarter was a big start for us,” said Kirksville head coach Sara Williams.

With Kirksville’s usual suspects struggling to get going against the Moberly defense, Phillips stepped up and had nine big points, all from behind the arc.

“It really gave us and edge after halftime and it’s always good to come out fast in the second half. My teammates did a really good job of finding me when they got doubled, and I was able to take advantage of that,” said Phillips.

It was the Tiger defense that enabled Kirksville to win. They held Moberly to a combined six points in the first and fourth quarters.

“We just made adjustments to take the ball out of the hands of the people we didn’t want to have it. We also made them alter their shots and contested their other shots,” said Williams.

The Lady Tigers came out focused on stopping Moberly from scoring.

“We came out focusesd hard on defense, as we held them to one point in the first quarter. That allowed us to be able to get our offense going later,” said Phillips.

Kirksville didn’t fill it up in the first and fourth quarters, either, as the Lady Tigers only scored 17 points in those 16 minutes. The two teams combined to score 10 points in the first, and 14 in the fourth.

“That’s just the way it goes when your shooters get into cold spells and that’s what happened tonight. I think it’s key that we keep shooting because eventually we are going to find ways to score. We have been balanced offensively so we’re not going to change anything on that end,” said Williams.

Speaking to that balance, Cook led KHS with 13, Aston Vorkink had 10 and Kendyl Blanke had nine to go along with the nine Phillips added.